Greetings from snow-bound New Hampshire!
I’ve just returned from Orlando (where I got to meet an awful lot of nice people at Mousefest 2003), only to find that — in my absence — our place up here in New Boston, N.H. has been buried in 20+ inches of snow.
So you’re going to have to forgive me if today’s story seems a bit on the light side. But — what with having to dig the house out from under all of this white stuff (and then having to deal with the six days worth of e-mail that piled up while I was down at Disney) — my dance card is kind of full for the next 24 hours.
But — that said — you REALLY want to keep an eye on JimHillMedia.com over the next few days. Why for? Because I came back from Orlando with a sh*tload of great stories for the site. Stuff that you’re just not going to get at any of the other Disneyana websites.
Like what? Okay. Why don’t we give you a brief taste of the sort of stuff JHM has in the pipeline … Like what’s going on with Feature Animation-Florida.
Now you’d think that the artists who work at Disney’s Feature Animation would be thrilled with this whole Roy / Michael / Stanley situation. That there’s the distinct possibility that Walt’s nephew may soon be able to wrest control of the Disney corporation from Eisner. That the U.S. Calvary may be riding over the hill to save all of their jobs.
But instead the opposite is true, folks. The animators who remain at WDFA-F are said to be truly terrified right about now. Scared that — because the media’s attention is primarily focused on Roy, Michael and Stanley right now — that the press may unintentionally overlook the fact that the Florida studio is still hanging by a thread.
And — as each day passes — January 14th (I.E. the date when Disney studio officials are expected to formally announce that the Florida studio will be closing) keeps getting closer and closer. Yet no solid plan has emerged yet to save the studio and its artists.
Instead, employees from the Disney Design Group and Walt Disney Imagineering have begun moving into the building. And the senior staff at Disney-MGM? They’re allegedly already squabbling over who’s going to get what parking spot once all of Florida’s animators have finally vacated the theme park.
Which just makes no sense to me. I mean, here you have a team of artists who have cranked out three hit films in a row: “Mulan,” “Lilo and Stitch” and “Brother Bear.” Now any other entertainment company would look at a track record like that and think: “This is a team that you want to keep intact.”
But at the Walt Disney Company (where — these days — up is down and black is white), only the Burbank brain trust can look at an incredibly successful track record like that and think: “We don’t need all of these guys. So let’s break this team up and just scatter it to the four winds. That’s what will ultimately be best for Walt Disney Feature Animation.”
Clearly there’s got to be something in the bottled water that they serve in the Rotunda (that oh-so-exclusive executive dining room in the Team Disney Burbank building). I mean, why else would these senseless suits decide to shut down Disney Feature Animation-Florida? Don’t these weenies understand that it’s “Three strikes and you’re out” ? NOT “Three hits and you’re out.”
Which is why — over the next five weeks — JimHillMedia.com is going to keep a spotlight shined on the WDFA-F situation. With the hope that — if we make enough noise — JHM can maybe embarrass the Mouse into keeping Disney Feature Animation-Florida open.
And — speaking of embarrassing the Mouse — the word on the street is that late yesterday afternoon, Michael Eisner ordered the executive staff of the Walt Disney Company to join him at an emergency retreat. Which was supposedly held at a site 30 miles away from the Burbank lot.
And what was the purpose of this reportedly super secret meeting? Eisner was allegedly looking to get his execs’ input as the embattled CEO sought to put together a coherent strategy for battling Roy and Stanley.
So if anyone who was attending that meeting yesterday wants to share what Eisner had to say … I’d love to hear it. Just lob an e-mail my way, and I’ll be happy to share the news with the rest of the JHM family.
Beyond that …
*Sigh*
Well, I guess that that snow isn’t going to shovel itself. So I’d best close now and head on outside. But be sure to drop by JimHillMedia.com regularly over the next few days. We’ve got some truly killer stories waiting in the wings.
Til then, you take care, okay?